


Better Father

by somefantasytosurvivereality



Series: The Stark Family [2]
Category: Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: AU, Bruce is Tony's child, Family, Fluff, Gen, Switched POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-15
Updated: 2013-01-15
Packaged: 2017-11-25 13:48:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/639519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somefantasytosurvivereality/pseuds/somefantasytosurvivereality
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Safe Tonight from Tony's POV</p>
            </blockquote>





	Better Father

**Author's Note:**

> I would read the first story in this series for the background if you have not already.

The day hadn't started out weird. In fact it had been a very normal, well as normal as Tony Stark's days went. The eccentric billion heir had spent most of his day down in his basement with machines and things that mostly didn't talk back to him. He did spend all of the day before in some God-awful board meeting and he didn't fall asleep at all, so the man figured he deserved a reward for all the hard work he had done yesterday and had given himself the day off.

His rumpled T-shirt and sweats were covered in grease and they were probably a lost cause by now, and it was a miracle in itself that the dark haired man's ears hadn't fallen off yet at the sheer loudness of the rock music being played. A faint glow came through the center of the T-shirt, signifying that he wasn't completely normal. The lab looked like it should be pristine, but the floor was covered in spare parts and his Iron Man suit was on what looked like an operating table all split open in the middle with spare parts all around it.

Suddenly the music stopped and Tony stopped his work to question who dare disturb him in his lair.

"Sir, there is an urgent phone call for you," a smart British voice informed him.

"Yeah," Tony replied, instantly uninterested and began to fiddle with his suit again. If he could just get the wire into this circuit he could set up the whole new cooling system. "Tell them I'm busy."

"Sir, I recommend you take this call," the AI insisted.

"Alright, fine," the billion heir caved dramatically. "Send the stupid phone call through, but if it's Pepper telling me to go to some other stupid business meeting I'm taking out your phone capabilities."

"Very good, sir," JARVIS replied, wisely ignoring the last part.

"Mr. Stark," a hesitant and unfamiliar voice spoke through the speaker.

"Shoot," the man in question said while still attempting to jam a wire into none existing space.

"Well, Mr. Stark, I'm police chief Carl Gray in Dayton, Ohio, and we have a Bruce Banner here who is believed to be your son-"

Tony interrupted, still working on the wire. "Well, you must be mistaken. I don't have any kids."

"The birth certificate clearly states you and Maria Banner as the parents, Mr. Stark," the voice informed him.

Tony froze, trying to recall the familiar name. "Banner… Maria Banner… Maria…" he muttered. The billion heir's eyes widened as he remembered. "Oh shit, um, how old is this kid?"

"Bruce is eight," he said. Then shuffling could be heard over Tony's speakers. "And his birth day is May thirty-first."

The genius did the math in his head, then he did it again, and then he made JARVIS do it. "Shit," was his conclusion. He sank down on the floor with his table behind him. He was probably a father. Something he promised he'd never be. He would be awful at it, just like his dad. Maybe he could be better than his dad? Maybe he could show this kid that he cared about him before he was long since dead and gone.

"Um, Mr. Stark?" Carl questioned. "We can have a paternity test done…?"

"Yes," the man agreed, even though he already knew the results. Maria and David had been fighting; they had not been sleeping together before he came. He also knew that his presence just aggravated David further digging the wedge in deeper. Maria was not one to sleep around judging by how guilty she was that morning. There was no possible way this kid was not his. "Run the test now and call me by ten with the results. End call, JARVIS."

"Already done, sir."

Tony ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. "JARVIS pull up a screen with all the news reports, files, school records, and anything else you can get on the kid. Oh and coffee, lots of coffee."

Tony stood up and made his way over to the hologram screens that were being put up around the room. He had them all come over to his desk chair which he fell into. There was already a steaming cup of coffee on his desk and he looked at DUM-E. "Maybe I don't need to sell you." The robot only beeped in response before it rolled away.

The genius signed and began to read what his AI had compiled.

By the time the phone call with the positive paternity test had come Tony had already learned that Bruce's birthday was indeed May thirty-first, that his name was really on the birth certificated, and that Maria had been dead for two years. The latter was a bit sad, but he honestly had more pressing matters to attend to.

After the phone called had arrived and Tony had said he pick up the kid in his plane tomorrow, he learned that for scientists the Banner's weren't very well off. Pity, they were damn intelligent people.

He also learned that David Banner, who had been the believed father of Bruce Banner had been killed by what had been known as the Hulk. This was somewhat surprising to the billion heir, as he had been following that particular creature closely, being a superhero himself, and had marked him as a low threat, not because he wasn't strong, but because he never initiated attacks and only responded. But killing the father Bruce had known would probably scar the kid. Well, Tony Stark did like challenges.

The dark haired man got up and stretched, cracking his back. Looking over at the clock he realized it was nearly five in the morning. Getting up, he mumbled something to JARVIS about saving files before exiting the room to get some much needed sleep before what he would have to face in the morning

br

Fifteen hours later found Tony back in his lab. That hadn't been awful. Well, it hadn't been a total debacle which had to count for something. The kid hadn't talked, but Tony had managed to get him to eat on the plane, and with how skinny that kid was, it seemed like he didn't do that often enough. It meant a bit of sense he was quiet, Tony reasoned. His whole world was changing maybe the kid would be better tomorrow.

The genius decided he needed to stop thinking about this, so he decided to simply work on his suit for a little bit. A wire here. A blow torch there. Falling into the workings of his suit he was lost for hours.

Finally finishing readjusting the heads up display, Iron Man looked at the clock to see it was two in the morning. Deciding to call it a night, he headed to the elevator to crash in his room.

"JARVIS, how long has the kid been asleep?" Tony questioned once he got to his room, which just happened to be next to the kids.

"Three hours and forty-three minutes, sir."

Tony quickly changed into his cleaner cloths and flopped on his bed. He needed to be better than his own father. He had to be there for the kid. "Well, wake me up if anything changes. Lights off."

Approximately three hours later Tony was woken from an uneasy sleep. "Sir, the young master has woken up from what appears to be a nightmare." The man sighed.

"They must be hereditary," he mumbled under his breath as he ran a hand through his hair to wake himself up. Going through his own fair share of nightmares alone, the billion heir decided to help the kid. Walking out of his room, he made his way to the room next door and the door slid open soundlessly.

"Hey kid, what's up," he asked. The kid looked tiny in the over large bed, and the T-shirt that seemed to serve as pajamas didn't look all that new. They would have to go shopping sometime that week. The kid had only had a backpack earlier.

"N-nothing," The kid stuttered. The first real word Bruce had ever spoken to him. "I didn't mean to wake you, Mr. Stark."

Tony frowned a bit and moved in closer so he could see the kid better. Plus weren't parents supposed to like sit on the bed or something? The kid didn't seem to like it too much form the way he shied away so Tony resolved not to get any closer.

"I said you could call me Tony, kid," Tony sighed as he ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. He didn't want to ask the kid to call him dad. Not when the boys had been killed so recently and he was probably a shitty replacement.

When the kid didn't make any noises of hearing him, he continued with what JARVIS had told him earlier. "Nightmare?"

The kid nodded a little bit, but didn't say anything. Alright, encouragement.

"You could talk about it if you want to," Tony pushed gently, swinging his feet on the bed to be a little closer to the boy, taking it as a good sign when he didn't back away. "I can be a good listener."

But the kid shook his head vigorously and hugged a bear a little tighter to his chest. Tony ignored the toy for the minute and tried to think of a way to draw the kid out.

"Yeah, sometimes I don't like sharing my nightmares either, kid," Tony tried as he looked down at the kid, who had a hilariously shocked expression on his face.

"You, you get nightmares too?" the kid asked, finally speaking and actually looking up at the Tony for once. Tony felt his insides do a little dance. Yeah, he could be a better dad than his.

"Yeah," Tony replied quickly, "And sometimes I can't sleep anymore, so I have to go down to my lab or something," he explained, hoping to get the kid to share something if he did.

But the kid had different plans "What are yours about?" He asked cautiously, and he leaned a little bit closer. Tony decided he had to give a little more to show the kid that he could be trusted. But the leaning closer thing was already a good sign.

Tony looked down to meet the kids eyes and was a little shocked to relize they were the same shade of brown as his. The exact same shade. Suddenly, it hit him that this was realy his kid. They were related. This was the only family Tony had left. Tony put his arm around his son and pulled him to his side to make sure he was real and would stay even if the rest of his family had left.

"Do you know how I became Iron Man?" Tony asked, deciding to start out with something simple. His son, Bruce, shook his head against his side.

"Well, I was taken by these," Tony realized he probably shouldn't swear in front of Bruce. "Um, bad guys who wanted me to make weapons for them. But when I was taken I was in an explosion that got shards of metal in my blood stream. So there was this doctor who put in this thing in my chest to keep the metal away from my heart."

"A magnet?" Bruce interrupted curiously.

Tony smiled down in surprise. The kid was smart! That was so great! They might be able to talk about things together and actually have something in common.

"Yeah, kid, it was an electro magnet. You must get your brains from me," he said smirking. Bruce's eyes widened, and Tony realized what the kid must be thinking. How many times had people tried to make him walk in his dad's over large footsteps? Screw the conversation starters having a smart kid would bring, he couldn't be like his dad. "Or who knows, maybe you'll be like Maria and be interested in Gamma radiation and stuff," Tony reassured quickly. "Or maybe you'll blow everyone away and be an architect or something. Don't be afraid to be different, kid."

Bruce nodded happily and asked, "What happened next, Mr. Stark?"

"Tony," Tony enunciated. Bruce nodded, but Tony insisted. His son was not going to use some ridiculous sounding name. "You can call me whatever kind of title you want. If you want to call me dad go crazy, but if you're going to use my name at least use my first, okay?"

"Okay, Tony," Bruce agreed.

The genius smiled at his win and continued. "Well, they wanted to hurt people with the weapons, so I didn't want to build them, so they had to make me do it. So I told them I would, but made the first Iron Man suit instead. Then I broke out with it, but I still have nightmares about that place."

"Oh," Bruce replied softly. "What's this then?" He asked. Tony looked down and the kid was pointing at the arch reactor. Yes, the kid was smart.

"That, little doctor, is an arch reactor," the man explained, grinning at coming up with the nick name. Parents were supposed to have them, right? His mom had some but his dad always just called him Anthony. "It basically does the same thing as the electromagnet but a lot more powerfully. You can touch it. It's not hot or anything," he encouraged, curious if he kid would touch it even with his shirt still covering it.

Bruce reached out and touched it for a second. "That's cool," he said, amazed by the light in his dad's chest.

"So what are yours about, Doc?" Tony plunged on and gave the kid a squeeze for some moral support.

"You can't tell anyone," the little genius warned him, and Tony watched as he pulled his legs to himself and wrapped his arm around his legs and rested his chin on his knees.

"Promise, Doc," Tony replied reassuringly.

"They're about the other guy," He confided quietly, and then looked up scared as if Tony would be made, but the made was merely very confused.

"What other guy?" He asked the kid.

"You've seen him," Bruce urged, and then suddenly got an idea. "Oh, JARVIS can you put up yesterday's news from my town." Tony was thrilled that Bruce was already comfortable with his AI.

"Of course, sir."

The wall converted into a screen that showed all the headlines on the Hulk. Tony had already read most of these headlines last night, so he just looked down at the kid who seemed to be crying. "Is it because he killed your dad?" Tony tried, but Bruce shook his head the tears making their way down further.

"He… he did something to me," The kid sobbed, and before Tony could interrupt, the boy gestured to the screens with his head. "Not him. My fake dad did," The kid managed to get out.

"What did he do?" Tony's face froze. What if David left his kid out when that was around? What if David had abused him? What if the abuse went beyond mental and physical? What if-

"I, I was in his lab," the kid interupted before Tony's thoughts could go much further. "He to-told me he wanted m-me to watch him d-do something. But then everything hurt and he was there." The boy nodded towards the screens again.

"So David Banner created the Hulk," Tony concluded, but was left with a question. "Where is the hulk now?"

"In my head," Bruce said sadly. And Tony looked down a bit startled before Bruce continued very fast. "I don't know what happened, but now he's in me. And whenever he thinks we're in danger he takes over and brings us away. He just tries to get away and not hurt anyone, but he- my fake dad- was really really awful and finally he just snapped. He's a l-lot stronger than I am." Bruce was looking away and whispered the last sentence. "I know I'm a freak, bu-but he just wants to protect us!"

Tony squeezed Bruce tightly against his side and ran his hand through his hair, which was surprisingly soft. He hoped David Banner hadn't called the kid a freak, but it was really the only explanation. "You're not a freak, Bruce," Tony reassured. After all, Iron Man had the issue of shrapnel nearing his heart and threating to kill him. "You're just special."

"Really?" Bruce asked in excitedly. Seeming thrilled that Tony didn't hate him.

"Promise," he said as he wiped the tears off of his son's face gently. Then a sudden thought hit the billion heir. If the hulk was in his head, "Can you talk to him? Like right now?"

Bruce nodded against his chest. "He says you're nice, and safe." Bruce paused and yawned before continuing. "He wants to talk to you."

"How about in the morning?" Tony reasoned, seeing the yawn. "I think he would agree when I say you need sleep, Doc." Especially if his goal really was to protect Bruce.

Bruce giggled a bit and Tony looked down curiously. "He says sleeping is good,"Bruce explained.

Tony smiled and made to get up, but Bruce grabbed his hand in a surprisingly brave gesture. "Maybe you could stay?" Bruce asked hesitantly. "We could keep the nightmares away from each other?"

Tony smiled and got back in the bed this time lying down and pulled his son down next to him. He wanted the kid to feel comfortable with him and not be afraid to ask for things. "Good idea, Doc. We'll be perfectly safe tonight."

Tony watched as the identical brown eyes to his own closed. Yes, he would be a better father.


End file.
